【Hermione Granger: Ron Weasley isn't in the Gryffindor team, and Scabbers isn't around either.】
Sure enough, they're both gone now, there's definitely something wrong. Also, Harry and the prefects haven't reported this to the professors. Did he make up an excuse to go out?
He only arrived halfway through tonight's banquet. The more I think about it, the more suspicious it seems.
"Ah!"
A scream drew everyone's attention.
At the main entrance, more than a dozen Dementors suddenly floated in, facing the Slytherin house.
Tall, cloaked in tattered robes, their faces completely hidden, with only a bit of skin and bone visible, these young wizards couldn't help but recall the scene on the Hogwarts Express.
Snape stood at the front, his face dark as he looked at the Dementors that had barged in, shouting in a hoarse voice:
"There are no criminals here for you to find."
The Dementors paused for a moment, but then continued forward. Whether there were criminals or not, they'd already come, and they couldn't possibly return empty-handed.
Even without deliberately feeding, just wandering around here would bring a lot of harvested happy emotions.
The days in Azkaban had been truly miserable for a long time. It was okay when the criminals first arrived, but as time went on, the taste of the happy emotions they provided became wrong.
Even these improperly flavored happy emotions had to be rationed; you couldn't just eat them whenever you wanted.
Now that there was such a good opportunity to eat delicious food until they were full, did they think they'd believe there were no criminals just because someone said so?
They didn't believe it!
They had to search themselves to be sure whether there really weren't any.
Seeing that the Dementors were still advancing, Snape was in a bit of a dilemma. It wasn't that he couldn't deal with them, but that he didn't want to reveal his Patronus, especially after it had become a doe.
Wouldn't that be telling those who knew a little something that Severus Snape, as a simp, didn't get the girl even after simping, and was still simping after Lily's death?
"Expecto Patronum!"
Professor Lupin waved his wand, and a cloud of silver-white mist appeared at the tip.
The silver-white mist quickly condensed into the image of a wolf, and charged towards the Dementors in front.
Lupin, who had stepped forward, didn't know why Snape wasn't using the Patronus Charm. The Dementors were almost in his face. If it were just Snape, it wouldn't matter.
But with so many young wizards present, he couldn't just stand by and watch.
In front of all the young wizards, the silver-white wolf used its sharp teeth and claws to drive the Dementors back, immediately elevating Lupin's image in their minds.
Before, they only thought Lupin was a good, interesting teacher, a qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
But now, everyone recognized Lupin's strength.
However, Lupin's action was like stirring up a hornet's nest.
Instantly, the entire outside of the hall was a dark mass, with countless dark shadows converging towards this side.
Originally, the Dementors didn't understand what solidarity meant; a companion's death was none of their business.
But Ethan's two consecutive actions forced them to start huddling together for warmth.
They had collected more than forty on the Hogwarts Express, and later tied up seventeen more. None of these remaining Dementors knew if they would be next.
So after that, they agreed to gather together to face any situation, which was better than dying inexplicably.
Even the Dementors that Fudge had specially transferred from Azkaban joined in, after all, who wasn't afraid of death!
But at this moment, as the number of Dementors joining the battlefield increased, Lupin's Patronus became dim.
Even from this distance in the hall, Ethan could feel the chilling aura emanating from the other side. Just how many Dementors had gathered outside?
Not only Ethan noticed this, but also Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick.
Immediately, everyone came to the position at the main entrance.
"Expecto Patronum!"
As the words fell, the silver-white cat, raven, and badger all charged out.
Now only Snape was left standing among the group of professors, feeling slightly awkward.
With the help of the other Patronuses, Lupin's pressure was greatly reduced, and he tried his best to control the Patronus to charge up again.
Chapter 174: Connecting Pure-Blood Families
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Above the hall, the windows that were originally used for owls to pass through shattered, and shards of glass fell all over the floor.
In the terrified eyes of the young wizards, one Dementor after another emerged from the broken windows above.
Instantly, the scene was in chaos, with a large number of young wizards running in panic towards the side passages.
It seemed that the Dementors could use their brains a little, knowing that there were several professors guarding the front main entrance, and they couldn't break through, so they took a different approach.
But they didn't know that Dumbledore was also standing here.
Ethan saw out of the corner of his eye that Dumbledore had raised the Elder Wand.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Taking the lead, Ethan launched an attack, and a large amount of silver-white mist spewed out from the tip of his wand, without forming any shape, just pure, vast mist.
Seeing this, Dumbledore also put down the Elder Wand, watching this scene with interest.
He wanted to see what Ethan's Patronus looked like. Moreover, anyone who could cast the Patronus Charm proved that they had love in their heart. Pure dark wizards couldn't learn the Patronus Charm.
But Ethan obviously exceeded his expectations. There was no image at all, just brute force.
A large amount of silver-white mist directly wrapped all the Dementors that had floated into the hall.
Inside, there was a continuous sound like fingernails scratching glass. Ethan had heard this sound many times; it was the painful wail of the Dementors.
But the other young wizards hadn't heard it, and they covered their ears one by one, with a hint of pain on their faces.
However, the panic on their faces was greatly reduced. They found that after Ethan took action, these Dementors couldn't break through the silver-white mist.
Moreover, they were screaming miserably inside, obviously the Dementors were being tortured by these silver-white mists.
Although they had long known that there was a way to deal with Dementors, they didn't expect it to be stronger than the professors. The professors couldn't deal with so many Dementors at once!
The young wizards all relaxed, but Dumbledore's heart was in his throat.
"Ethan, stop now!"
Realizing that something was wrong, Dumbledore immediately shouted loudly.
Seeing Ethan's posture, he was going to kill the Dementors!
But these Dementors are employees of the Ministry of Magic. Last time, when just over a dozen went missing, I was invited for tea. But now, at least forty or fifty of them floated in. If Ethan takes them all down, it won't be as simple as having tea.
Although the Dementors violated the rules by entering Hogwarts first, the Ministry of Magic can always find excuses for these Dementors if they want to.
Hearing Dumbledore's voice, Ethan turned his head with feigned confusion and a face full of bewilderment, but his hands didn't stop moving.
"These Dementors are employees of the Ministry of Magic, just expel them!"
Dumbledore could only say helplessly at this moment.
It's not you who's going to have tea, and it's not you who's going to be bothered, so you can act recklessly, right!
Dumbledore was really depressed. Being the headmaster isn't easy!
"Headmaster, these Dementors attacked us first. Even if they are employees of the Ministry of Magic, we can't just let it go like that!"`!
Ethan sped up his progress while rebutting Dumbledore.
The surrounding young wizards also quite agreed with Ethan's words, and they looked at Dumbledore with some strange expressions.
It was one thing to not take action just now, but now you're even helping Ethan.
You are the headmaster of Hogwarts, not the Minister of Magic!
You have to be responsible for the students!
"Just give them some punishment, and I will have the Ministry of Magic give an explanation afterward."
Dumbledore naturally noticed the strange gazes of the young wizards below, but his position was that he would not conflict with the Ministry of Magic, so he had no other choice at this moment.
"Since the headmaster has said so, then okay!"
As he said that, Ethan directly retracted his wand. The silvery-white mist in the sky above the hall was also dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye, until it revealed the three Dementors huddled in the corner of the ceiling, shivering.
Dumbledore looked at the three Dementors and then at Ethan.
His face was full of questioning expressions.
As if asking, is there only three left? .
It seems that he will have to make another trip to the Ministry of Magic.
Ethan gave Dumbledore a helpless look and then walked into the Ravenclaw student group.
Just now, while using the first stage of the Patronus Charm to trap and weaken the Dementors, Ethan also opened Nibelungen and collected them.
With the silvery-white mist covering it, it was impossible to see the situation inside with the naked eye. Once it was invisible to the naked eye, Ethan's ability to not be discovered unless witnessed came into play.
Directly using Nibelungen to pull these Dementors in, Dumbledore didn't know what happened at all. At most, he would just think that these disappearing Dementors were killed by Ethan again.
Anyway, Dementors don't leave corpses after they die, so Ethan doesn't need to fake the scene anymore.
Last time, seventeen Dementors were kidnapped, and they have been almost used up. Ethan had been planning to do another job sometime.
He didn't expect that today, the Dementors would come to his door themselves.
If Ethan didn't accept them, he would be letting himself down.
And those Dementors outside who were trying to break in also noticed the changes in the hall.
They immediately began to retreat, fearing that they would be too late. Each one ran faster than the last, and they disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Only after all the Dementors had withdrawn from Hogwarts Castle did the professors breathe a sigh of relief and put away their wands.
Lupin's eyes were full of confusion as he looked at Ethan. He had heard of Ethan's reputation before he even entered Hogwarts, knowing that he was a genius.
But no matter how genius he was, there was a limit. Back then, weren't James, Sirius Black, and Snape all geniuses? But none of them were as outrageous as Ethan.
Just the power exerted by the first stage of the Patronus was stronger than the second stage of himself and these professors.
Moreover, seeing his colleagues looking like they were used to it, it was obvious that Ethan had done this kind of thing a lot, making them used to it.
Ethan was currently dealing with the flattery of a group of people. It wasn't for any other reason, mainly just wanting to build good relationships so that Ethan could help them when they encountered Dementors in distress.
It would be even better if he could teach them the correct method of casting the Patronus Charm.
"Now, the teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle!"
Dumbledore cleared his throat, saying again the words that had been interrupted earlier due to the Dementor intrusion.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick also used the Repairing Charm to fix the glass that had been broken by the Dementors and closed all the doors of the hall.
"For your own safety, I'm afraid you can only spend the night here. I hope the prefects guard the entrance to the hall. I entrust the Head Boy and Head Girl with the responsibility of management. If there are any situations, report to me immediately!"
Dumbledore then looked at Adelaide Valke, who was waiting on the side: "You can send a ghost to deliver messages."
Adelaide Valke was a seventh-year prefect of Slytherin and the Head Boy. Originally, Percy was supposed to be in this position, whether in theory or practice, Percy had the advantage in previous competitions.
But because of an accident that caused Percy to lose a few fingers, his practical grades plummeted. Also, because Hogwarts had no precedent for abolishing prefects, Percy could still be his prefect. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to keep his position as prefect, let alone Head Boy.
After giving his instructions, Dumbledore was ready to leave, but he seemed to have thought of something, and he immediately stopped and returned.
"You also need..."
Dumbledore waved his wand, and the tables and chairs that had been somewhat scattered due to the panic flew to the side of the hall one by one and automatically leaned against the wall. With another wave, hundreds of soft purple sleeping bags appeared on the ground.
"Alright, you can sleep well now!"
After saying that, Dumbledore led the professors out of the hall and casually closed the door.
After the professors and Dumbledore had left, a burst of chattering immediately rang out in the hall.
Adelaide Valke, who had been authorized by Dumbledore, immediately stood up:
"Everyone, get into your sleeping bags! Quickly, no one is allowed to speak anymore! Lights out in ten minutes!"
However, no one paid any attention to him. Everyone continued to chat as they pleased.
Ethan was currently thinking about whether to bring down Fudge.
